Vivendi Declined SoftBank’s Lucrative Offer for Universal

Apparently, Vivendi, the French media and telecommunications conglomerate, rejected an $8.5 billion cash bid from SoftBank for the Universal Music Group, even though it represented a premium of at least $2 billion more than some analysts’ estimates of Universal Music’s value.

SoftBank made its bid to Vivendi’s board about three months ago. The bid for Universal underscores the attractiveness of large music and media catalogs in the digital age, even as record companies struggle to replace revenue from lost CD sales. Consumers are increasingly turning for their entertainment to streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, which sell access to music or movies and rely on licensing deals with media companies. Universal is the world’s largest music company, with hundreds of artists. Last year Universal had $6 billion in revenue, and $694 million in earnings before interest, taxes and amortization.